With their sweet round mouths sing “Ha, ha, he!”

When the painted birds laugh in the shade,

Where our table with cherries and nuts is spread;

Come live and be merry and join with me

To sing the sweet chorus of “Ha, ha, he!”

William Blake.

CONTENTS

PAGE
The Rats and their Son-in-Law (French)[3]
The Mouse and the Sausage (French)[6]
The Three Wishes (Spanish)[7]
The Fox and the Goose (Spanish)[10]
If Heaven Will It (Spanish)[12]
The Booby (Italian)[14]
The Months (Italian)[20]
The Stone in the Cock’s Head (Italian)[25]
The Fox and the Cat (Cossack)[30]
The Straw Ox (Cossack)[32]
The Cat, the Cock, and the Fox (Cossack)[36]
The Fox and the Dove (Russian)[39]
The Fox and the Hedgehog (Russian)[41]
The Disappointed Bear (Russian)[43]
Young Neverfull (Russian)[45]
Hudden and Dudden and Donald O’Neary (Celtic)[47]
The Tail (Celtic)[54]
Jack and the King who was a Gentleman (Celtic)[55]
Hans in Luck (German)[62]
The Family Servants (German)[68]
The Flail which came from the Clouds (German)[69]
The Sole’s Mouth (German)[71]
The Three Brothers (German)[72]
The Wren and the Bear (German)[74]
The Musicians of Bremen (German)[77]
The Fox and the Cat (German)[81]
The Golden Key (German)[82]
Doctor Know-All (German)[83]
The Fair Catherine and Pif-Paf Poltrie (German)[86]
The Wolf and the Fox (German)[88]
Discreet Hans (German)[90]
King Thrush-beard (German)[93]
The Three Luck Children (German)[98]
The Three Sluggards (German)[101]
The Fisherman and his Wife (German)[102]
The Nose-tree (German)[111]
The Adventures of Chanticleer and Partlet (German)[118]
The Golden Goose (German)[124]
The Young Giant (German)[129]
The Sweet Soup (German)[137]
Seven at one Blow (German)[138]
The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership (German)[146]
Old Sultan (German)[149]
The Nail (German)[152]
The Fox and the Horse (German)[153]
The Giant and the Tailor (German)[155]
The Spider and the Flea (German)[157]
The Little Shepherd Boy (German)[160]
The Seven Swabians (German)[162]
The Shreds (German)[165]
The Wolf and the Seven Kids (German)[166]
The Elves and the Shoemaker (German)[170]
King Wren (German)[172]
Why the Bear has a Stumpy Tail (German)[176]
Three Ways to Build a House (German)[177]
How to Tell a True Princess (German)[182]
The Five Servants (German)[184]
The Hare and the Fox (German)[191]
The Story of Zirac (Oriental)[193]
Johnny-Cake (English)[197]
The Wee, Wee Mannie (Scottish)[200]
Sir Gammer Vans (English)[203]
Tom Tit Tot (English)[205]
The Old Woman and her Pig (English)[211]
The Story of the Three Little Pigs (English)[215]
The Three Sillies (English)[218]
The Cat and the Mouse (English)[222]
Hereafterthis (English)[224]
Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse (English)[228]
The Magpie’s Nest (English)[231]
Scrapefoot (English)[233]
The Wise Men of Gotham (English)[236]
Henny-Penny (English)[241]
A Son of Adam (English)[244]
The Happy Family (H. C. Andersen)[246]
The Blind Man, the Deaf Man, and the Donkey (Southern India)[250]
The Alligator and the Jackal (Southern India)[258]
Why the Fish Laughed (Indian)[263]
The Selfish Sparrow and the Houseless Crows (Southern India)[269]
The Lambikin (Indian)[271]
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (Scandinavian)[274]
The Greedy Cat (Scandinavian)[278]
Well Done: Ill Paid (Scandinavian)[284]
Reynard and Chanticleer (Scandinavian)[287]
Father Bruin in the Corner (Scandinavian)[289]
Why the Sea is Salt (Scandinavian)[291]
Gudbrand on the Hillside (Scandinavian)[296]
The Pancake (Scandinavian)[301]
The Death of Chanticleer (Scandinavian)[305]
Reynard Wants to Taste Horse-flesh (Scandinavian)[309]
Bruin and Reynard Partners (Scandinavian)[311]
Pork and Honey (Scandinavian)[312]
How Reynard Outwitted Bruin (Scandinavian)[314]
Nanny Who Wouldn’t Go Home to Supper (Scandinavian)[315]
The Box With Something Pretty In It (Scandinavian)[321]
The Farmer and the Troll (Scandinavian)[322]
One’s Own Children Always Prettiest (Scandinavian)[323]
The Princess Whom Nobody Could Silence (Scandinavian)[324]
The Money-Box (H. C. Andersen)[328]
The Darning-Needle (H. C. Andersen)[331]
Master of All Masters (English)[335]
Belling the Cat (English)[336]
The Magpie and her Children (English)[338]
The Cock, the Cuckoo, and the Black-cock (English)[339]
The Race Between Hare and Hedgehog (English)[340]
Bruno’s Story (Lewis Carroll)[344]
The Bluebottle Who Went Courting (English)[346]
How Two Beetles Took Lodgings (English)[351]
Little Tuppen (Scandinavian)[358]
The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World (Edward Lear)[361]
The History of the Seven Families of the Lake Pipple-Popple (Edward Lear)[370]
Wee Robin’s Yule-Song (Scottish)[380]
The Giant’s Shoes (W. K. Clifford)[382]
The Farmer and the Money-Lender (Indian)[385]
How the Sun, the Moon, and the Wind Went Out to Dinner (Southern India)[388]
Singh Rajah and the Cunning Little Jackals (Southern India)[390]
Harisarman (Indian)[393]
It Is Quite True (H. C. Andersen)[397]
Manabozho and his Toe (North American Indian)[400]
The Most Frugal of Men (Chinese)[401]
The Moon-Cake (Chinese)[403]
The Ladle that Fell from the Moon (Chinese)[404]
The Young Head of the Family (Chinese)[407]
A Dreadful Boar (Chinese)[412]
The Old Man and the Devils (Japanese)[415]
The Wonderful Tea-Kettle (Japanese)[417]
The Wonderful Mallet (Japanese)[421]
The Tongue-Cut Sparrow (Japanese)[425]
Battle of the Monkey and the Crab (Japanese)[427]
The Cub’s Triumph (Japanese)[429]
The Silly Jelly-Fish (Japanese)[432]
Chin-Chin Kobakama (Japanese)[435]
The Old Woman who Lost her Dumplings (Japanese)[438]
The Three Goats (German)[442]
The Fox Turned Shepherd (German)[444]
The Seven Boys and the Monster (German)[446]
The Story of Little Black Mingo (H. Bannerman)[452]
The Cock and the Crested Hen (Swedish)[457]
The Old Woman and the Fish (Swedish)[459]
The Lad and the Fox (Swedish)[462]
The Old Woman and the Tramp (Swedish)[463]

Tales of Laughter